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Feb 15th 2010
Gung Hay Fat Choy & Happy VDay & Still Sucks reviews…
Woot! Well, it was fun yesterday meeting up with Kristin Walker and Kristina Springer for the signing in Bolingbrook. I managed to NOT eat a lot of chocolate, which was great (am officially down 15 lbs. now! Just 15 more to go!).
Yesterday was also the Chinese New Year (Happy Year of the Tiger!), so Gung Hay Fat Choy!
I got two awesome cool pieces of news today. One, the first review of Still Sucks to Be Me from Sarah at YA Librarian Tales! She liked it! Whew!
Honestly, the second book thing is much more nerve wracking than the first book thing. Because now people have expectations. And they write me about them. Which is cool, but obviously I can’t meet everyone’s expectations of what should happen since Mina kind of does her own thing. Half the time, I can’t stop her. Okay, more like 99% of the time. So it’s really great to finally hear from someone that they like it! And they think it’s funny! Whoo!
AND I got this super-awesome-wonderfulness of a blurb from the oh-so-cool Margot Adler (of NPR fame):
Of all the Vampire novels I have read, Sucks to be Me was my absolute favorite. It was smart, original, with a lovely, honest heroine, and it was laugh-out-loud funny. I almost fell out of bed laughing at one point. I couldn’t wait to get a hold of the sequel, Still Sucks to be Me. When it came out, I devoured every page. For those who love the genre, yet are tired of tragic, Byronic lugubrious vampires, this is truly a unique and hilarious read. —Margot Adler, author of Drawing Down the Moon.
That just seriously made my day. I <3 Margot!
So now commences the waiting as I wait to hear how other authors and reviewers feel about the book…
(and yes, people, I will very soon be announcing some contest-y type things…because I love you. You know I do.)
Feb 9th 2010
Winners of Ser Yo es un Asco…
Okay, I’m WAY late announcing winners for this contest. Someone should have reminded me! To make up for being sooooo late, I’m going to be awarding TWO first prizes instead of just one.
SO…the winners of a personalized signed copy of Ser Yo es un Asco + bookmark + temporary tattoo + sticker are….
Mariana S. and Annie from Annie’s Books!
The runners-up, who are getting a personalized signed bookplate + bookmark + temporary tattoo + sticker are…
Ana, Giuly and Sheere!
Here was Mariana’s very cool recreation of the Ser Yo es un Asco cover:
Thanks everyone for participating in the contest! I’ll be contacting you via e-mail for your contact information (or, if you see this first, feel free to email me!) 
Feb 8th 2010
The Great Scavenger Hunt!
Have you heard about the awesome Great Scavenger Hunt Contest that author Kay Cassidy started? If you’re a librarian or teacher and you haven’t gotten involved yet…what are you waiting for (and hey, teens? If your librarian isn’t participating…now would be a good time to go give ‘em a whack on the head. Though, okay, maybe only figuratively, not literally. Don’t want a bunch of black and blue librarians out there.)?
I’m officially now a participating author with Sucks to Be Me and soon with Still Sucks to Be Me. I’m also going to be donating books to Kay to give away.
Good luck in the scavenger hunt!
And Happy Reading!
Feb 2nd 2010
So, you're a blogger and you wanna review Still Sucks to Be Me…
So I’ve got this big shiny box full of ARCs of Still Sucks to Be Me. Some of them are earmarked for my fellow author peeps. And there’s a few I’m reserving for a special fans-only contest (coming probably in March), but some need to go out to book bloggers. I’d started a list but then lost it in The Great Computer Transfer of ‘09 (read: I got a new MacBook for Christmas, but it didn’t like my old e-mails). So…I thought I’d try something I’ve seen a lot of other authors do…
If you’re a book blogger / reviewer and you’d like an ARC of Still Sucks to Be Me to review, here’s what you gotta do…send me an email at kim @ kimberlypauley.com (remove spaces) or fill out the contact form and tell me:
- Your name
- Your blog / site URL
- Link to your review of the first book (Sucks to Be Me)
- Anything else you’d like to tell me (like why YOU should get an advance copy)
I’ve got a limited supply, though my publisher will also be sending some out.
As an added thing…remember back when Sucks to Be Me came out and I had an online launch party where I featured other authors and their books for two weeks? And gave prizes? Well, this year I’m planning something similar, but I want to feature book bloggers / reviewers…so anyone I send out an ARC to, I’m gonna be interviewing you too and featuring you on my blog during the month of May.
UPDATE: This is basically ongoing until I run out of ARCs…(and I just got some more…)
Feb 1st 2010
The Advance copies of Still Sucks to Be me are HERE!
Woot! My book baby is here! Well, the advance copies anyway, so I’m one step closer to holding my second book in my hot little hands. They look awesome!
Still Sucks to Be Me ARCs
Did I mention I was excited??
Jan 29th 2010
Sucks to Be Me & Still Sucks to Be Me T-shirts for Charity!
Vampire Squirrel from Still Sucks to Be Me
Okay, this is too cool! I got the go ahead from my publisher to do this (yay!) after I’ve been hearing for a while from people how much they’d love a T-shirt with batty on it! Woot! Now introducing the Sucks to Be Me T-Shirt shop (provided by Spreadshirt)!! All proceeds from sales will be donated to Open Books, a local literacy charity.
And even cooler? I’ve designed some of the shirts with BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW stuff from Still Sucks to Be Me! Check out the vampire squirrel, for instance! Or the Official VRA (Vampire Relocation Agency) wear!
And if there’s a particular shirt you’d like with a particular design, just let me know. I’m happy to make anything for you that you want (that I’m able to do).
Please feel free to pass on the shop: http://stbm.spreadshirt.com — ALL proceeds go to charity, so you can even feel good about wearing batty…like you wouldn’t already!
(all graphics designed by the incredible Emi Tanji!)
© Wizards of the Coast, LLC. Images used with permission.
Jan 22nd 2010
The Still Sucks to Be Me Cover !! Woot!
I am very, very excited to show you the cover for Still Sucks to Be Me, which will be released on May 11th!! The main color this time is blue, instead of red. Note Mina’s eyes!! Let me know what you think!!
The Still Sucks to Be Me Cover!!
Jan 7th 2010
Query Letters (The original Sucks to Be Me queries…)
So some people have asked me to post up my original query letter for Sucks to Be Me. It’s kind of interesting to see them now, honestly. I hadn’t read them in a while. I’m actually going to post up two different examples (each letter I sent out was a little different, depending on who I was sending it to). These are both from physical snail mail correspondence (I can’t get to my e-mail queries at the moment due to switching laptops).
Here’s one that was to an agent and was more or less a “cold call” — I didn’t know them, hadn’t met them, and didn’t have any personal connection to draw upon. If I did have a connection to draw upon (like being a recommendation from an author I knew, etc., I would have included it as the first paragraph.
Oh, and the title of the book originally (as you can see below), was This Bites. Lots of things have changed since then (total word count, Mina’s age, the number of pageviews YABC gets, you name it. This was back in 2005.)
——————————————————–
Dear [Agent Name]:
“So, I know what you’re going to say. ‘Mina, don’t be silly. Your parents don’t really want you dead.’ But, see, that’s where you’re wrong. Dead wrong. My parents are vampires and now…now, I have to figure out if I want to be a bloodsucker too and continue the family tradition. So don’t tell me you’ve got issues. I’ve got issues.”
Right before her eighteenth birthday, Mina is given an unexpected decision: to suck or not to suck? What to do when you’ve got bigger things to worry about, like finding true love (or at least ‘true like’), finding a date for Prom, and finding yourself? Complicated by required vampire lessons (Geez, vampire homework? What next?) and field trips, love triangles (or is that squares?), and a sardonic but lovable uncle, Mina manages to find some meaning in it all and work out for herself what’s right for her, fangs or no fangs.
This Bites is a completed 57,000 word young adult novel targeted towards readers of Meg Cabot, Daniel Ehrenhaft (his comments so far on my novel, after reading the first few chapters: “You have something really cool here!”), and Sarah Mlynowski. Told in the first person, the tone is light, sarcastic, and comic (similar to the snarkiness of Lulu Dark) — this is no blood and guts vampire novel. Two additional books in the series are planned: This Bites: France Sucks (Mina visits France as a Student Vampire Ambassador, despite the fact she can’t speak French) and This Bites: Vampire U (Mina goes to Vampire college).
You might know me best as my alter-ego, the Young Adult Books Goddess from Young Adult Books Central (www.yabookscentral.com), one of the leading YA lit sites on the Internet with over 160,000 pageviews a month. I have been a reviewer of YA books since 1998 and I specialized in children’s and adolescent literature in college. I regularly work with authors, publishers, and publicists in the genre and consider myself a well-read, if exhausted, individual (I receive approximately 200 – 300 books to review a year).
Per your guidelines, I have enclosed the first 10 pages of my manuscript and an SASE. I look forward to hearing from you. I can be reached via e-mail at kim@yabookscentral.com or via telephone at (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
Dear [Wonderful Editor]:
[Name of Friend] had mentioned to me that Mirrorstone is currently looking for supernatural YA and that, after she had mentioned my novel to you, you had indicated interest in seeing it. I apologize for taking so long to send it; the ms. was out with an agent at the time.
To Suck or Not to Suck (When Blood is the Question) is a completed 57,000 word young adult manuscript targeted towards readers of Meg Cabot, Daniel Ehrenhaft (his comment, after reading the first few chapters: “You have something really cool here!”), and Sarah Mlynowski (who calls it “fun,” with a great concept). Told in the first person, the tone is light, sarcastic, and comic — this is no blood and guts vampire novel. Two additional books in the series are planned: France Sucks (Mina visits France as a Student Vampire Ambassador, despite the fact she can’t speak French) and Vampire U (Mina goes to Vampire college).
I feel I should mention that the ms. was originally called This Bites (that was the title Dan and Sarah read it under), but I re-titled it after a number of similar titles were released (thankfully, none have the same plot).
You might know me best as my alter-ego, the Young Adult Books Goddess from Young Adult Books Central (www.yabookscentral.com), one of the leading YA lit sites on the Internet with over 225,000 pageviews a month. I have been a reviewer of YA books since 1998 and I specialized in children’s and adolescent literature in college. I regularly work with authors, publishers (including Mirrorstone), and publicists in the genre and consider myself a well-read, if exhausted, individual (I receive approximately 200 – 300 books to review a year).
As [Friend] instructed, I have enclosed the first three chapters of my novel as well as a synopsis. If you need any further information, please let me know. I can be reached at any time via email at kim@yabookscentral.com or on the phone at (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
They aren’t perfect queries and they break some of the “rules” that you always see out there. But they ultimately worked for me. Most of the agents I sent it to did ask to see the manuscript. There was another follow-up letter after this to my eventual editor where she asked me for my take on how it would fit into the market.
Anyway, any questions, comments, whatever, feel free to post Hope this helps someone!
Jan 7th 2010
What's best to start with… a single novel, short stories, or a series?
I got this question posted to my Challenge:
One question I had was when trying to get published what is the best approach, take one finished novel in or make a bunch of short stories or both? Or perhaps an entire book series would be best?
I thought I’d answer it here as the answer’d be kind of long for a comment thread.
First off, let me once again say that this is just my own opinion. And we all know that saying about opinions…at any rate, if you troll around on the web, you’re sure to find more opinions on this.
Personally, based on my own experiences and from what I’ve gleaned from agents and editors, it’s best for first timers to start out with a completed (polished as much as possible) manuscript that stands on its own, even if it is part of a projected series.
Why? Well, as a first timer, they have no idea whether or not your book is going to sell. So they don’t necessarily want to commit to an entire series. I’ve even heard that you shouldn’t even mention that your book is the first in a series, even if it is is, in your query. I totally broke that rule in mine, though I kept the mention brief and stressed that the book stood alone (if anyone wants me to post my query up, just ask). When my publisher did decide to take a chance on me, they included an option in the contract for follow up books, but bought the book as a standalone. I understand that is pretty common (though we’ve all heard about the exceptions).
So, what about short stories? I’ve definitely heard of a lot of people breaking in through the short story market and it is an excellent way to hone your skills (good short stories are TOUGH). But…the short story market is shrinking all the time. Magazines and websites close up every day it seems (iz sad) and the pay for short stories is really, really tiny. I’ve made as little as $10 on a short story before (and yes, that was in a print magazine). Anthologies of short stories don’t tend to sell that well (from what I understand) unless there are some big name headliners on it. So, in short, not an easy way to break in.
Personally, I’ve also found that the time spent on short stories and marketing them is better spent for me on a longer book. But your mileage may vary.
So…next I probably ought to blog about my thoughts on what’s best to follow up with, eh? I’m working on that now.
Sucks To Be Me
Still Sucks To Be Me
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